_THE ONLY WISE BEGINNING_
"_The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom._"
--PSALM cxi.
If I want to do anything wisely I must begin with God. That is the very
alphabet of the matter. Every other beginning is a perverse beginning, and
it will end in sure disaster. "I am Alpha." Everything must take its rise
in Him, or it will plunge from folly into folly, and culminate in
confusion.
If I would be wise in my daily business I must begin all my affairs in
God. My career itself must be chosen in His presence, and in the
illumination of His most holy Spirit. And in the subsequent days nothing
must be done that is not rooted and grounded in Him.
If I would be wise as a teacher I must begin with God. I must not merely
call Him in to bless my lesson when my labour is done. The very beginnings
of my thinkings must be in Him. Our Lord will not write an appendix to a
volume about which He has never been consulted. "They who seek Me _early_
shall find Me." And so it is with the varied activities of our
multitudinous life. If we would have them shine with quiet wisdom we must
light them at the Sun of glory.